Maritime Time

Charles Vickery, Racing Clippers 'Ariel' and 'Taeping', 30 x 40 inches.
Geoff Hunt
Harvey T. Dunn, For a Space of Minutes, 1915
Unknown, Rogue Wave, Queen Mary
Gordon Grant

Polly Seip

Polly Seip is a contemporary painter based in CT, in the US.
I love the use of wide format in these works, and the exploration of the changing effects of light on the sea.
Here's a link to her studio blog: pollyseipfineart.blogspot.com

Here's another example of a wide format composition, by the British painter Frederick William Hayes. This is from the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Criccieth, Wales, late 19th century.

People on the Beach

Elihu Veder, Greek Girls Bathing.
Frederik Hendrik Kaemmerer, A Beach Stroll.
Gabriel-Charles Deneux, Les peintres de retour du Mont Saint-Michel.
Frederick A Bridgman, Seaweed Gatherers.
Thomas Cooper Gotch, The Sand Bar.
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These painters have used figures to great effect in enlivening their beachscapes. Rods and pitchforks carried by the figures add diagonal linear elements. Clothing is also an opportunity to introduce some red or dark accents to contrast with the neutral coloured surf and sand.